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Wilhelm Cuno
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Wilhelm Cuno
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno (2 July 1876 – 3 January 1933) was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the period in which inflation in Germany accelerated towards hyperinflation.
After beginning his career in the civil service, Cuno helped organize Germany's food supply during the early years of World War I before he went to work for the Hamburg America shipping company in 1917. Because of his economic expertise, he was involved in a number of important post-war negotiations with the victorious Allies. When he was appointed chancellor of Germany in November 1922, he formed a "business ministry" made up primarily of men who were, like himself, political independents. His plans to handle the war reparations issue and stabilise the currency were derailed by the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923. Cuno instituted a policy of passive resistance and provided financial assistance to the workers and firms affected by it. The payments, made possible primarily by printing money, began the runup to the German hyperinflation of 1923.
After his government resigned in August 1923, Cuno returned to the Hamburg America Line.
Wilhelm Cuno was born on 2 July 1876 in Suhl, in what was then Prussian Saxony and is now in Thuringia. He was the son of the administrative civil servant August George Wilhelm Cuno (1848–1915) and his wife Catherina Elisabeth Theresia, née Daske (1852–1878). He studied law in Berlin and Heidelberg and was awarded a Juris Doctor. He was a member of K.D.St.V. Arminia Heidelberg, a Catholic student fraternity that is a member of the Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities.
In 1906, Cuno, a Roman Catholic, married Martha Berta Wirtz (born 1879), daughter of Hamburg merchant Hugo Wirtz. They had three sons and two daughters.
Cuno was employed by the federal Treasury Department in 1907, initially as Regierungsassessor, was promoted in 1910 to Regierungsrat and then in 1912 to Geheimer Regierungsrat. His tasks mainly involved preparing parliamentary bills and presenting them to the Reichstag.
During World War I, Cuno was involved in organizing food supplies for all of Germany, first directing the Imperial Grain Agency from its inception in early 1915 until July 1916. It was responsible for the collection and distribution of grain and flour throughout Germany. He was then attached to the State Secretary (i.e., Minister) Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe to help organize the War Office of Food (Kriegsernährungsamt). In late 1916, Cuno was put in charge of the department of war-related economic issues at the Treasury Department.
At the request of Albert Ballin, general director of the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), Cuno quit the civil service to join the shipping company as a director in November 1917. After Ballin committed suicide in November 1918 in despair over Germany's defeat in World War I, Cuno was promoted to HAPAG's general director in December.
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Wilhelm Cuno
Wilhelm Carl Josef Cuno (2 July 1876 – 3 January 1933) was a German businessman and politician who was the chancellor of Germany from 1922 to 1923 for a total of 264 days. His tenure included the beginning of the occupation of the Ruhr by French and Belgian troops and the period in which inflation in Germany accelerated towards hyperinflation.
After beginning his career in the civil service, Cuno helped organize Germany's food supply during the early years of World War I before he went to work for the Hamburg America shipping company in 1917. Because of his economic expertise, he was involved in a number of important post-war negotiations with the victorious Allies. When he was appointed chancellor of Germany in November 1922, he formed a "business ministry" made up primarily of men who were, like himself, political independents. His plans to handle the war reparations issue and stabilise the currency were derailed by the French and Belgian occupation of the Ruhr in January 1923. Cuno instituted a policy of passive resistance and provided financial assistance to the workers and firms affected by it. The payments, made possible primarily by printing money, began the runup to the German hyperinflation of 1923.
After his government resigned in August 1923, Cuno returned to the Hamburg America Line.
Wilhelm Cuno was born on 2 July 1876 in Suhl, in what was then Prussian Saxony and is now in Thuringia. He was the son of the administrative civil servant August George Wilhelm Cuno (1848–1915) and his wife Catherina Elisabeth Theresia, née Daske (1852–1878). He studied law in Berlin and Heidelberg and was awarded a Juris Doctor. He was a member of K.D.St.V. Arminia Heidelberg, a Catholic student fraternity that is a member of the Union of Catholic German Student Fraternities.
In 1906, Cuno, a Roman Catholic, married Martha Berta Wirtz (born 1879), daughter of Hamburg merchant Hugo Wirtz. They had three sons and two daughters.
Cuno was employed by the federal Treasury Department in 1907, initially as Regierungsassessor, was promoted in 1910 to Regierungsrat and then in 1912 to Geheimer Regierungsrat. His tasks mainly involved preparing parliamentary bills and presenting them to the Reichstag.
During World War I, Cuno was involved in organizing food supplies for all of Germany, first directing the Imperial Grain Agency from its inception in early 1915 until July 1916. It was responsible for the collection and distribution of grain and flour throughout Germany. He was then attached to the State Secretary (i.e., Minister) Adolf Tortilowicz von Batocki-Friebe to help organize the War Office of Food (Kriegsernährungsamt). In late 1916, Cuno was put in charge of the department of war-related economic issues at the Treasury Department.
At the request of Albert Ballin, general director of the Hamburg America Line (HAPAG), Cuno quit the civil service to join the shipping company as a director in November 1917. After Ballin committed suicide in November 1918 in despair over Germany's defeat in World War I, Cuno was promoted to HAPAG's general director in December.
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